📖 Arnica Montana (HMT) Introduction

Arnica has a special place in homoe opathy. It is prepared from tobacco grown on the mountains, and ha s long since been used in the treatment of blunt injuries. To fa ll and get hurt is common in hilly areas, no wonder that the Gracious God has provided the appropriate remedy right there! In homoeopathy, Arnica is used in the treatment of new as well as old injuries. Its main symptom is the clotting of blood (resembling Alumen); thus, it is an essential ingredient in the treatment of heart diseases. Arnica, in homoeopathic form, liquefies the clotted blood. Yet, unlike allopathic medicine, it does not make the blood too thin to clot when needed. In the case of heart attack , Arnica is given in combination with Lachesis. Lachesis is a remedy for snake venom, which causes the blood to clot in th e arteries supplying the heart and causes heart attack. Some snake venoms affect the nerv ous system instead of the blood. Naja is one such example. Its venom affects the heart musculature. Arnica and Lachesis, both are closel y related to the coagulation of blood. They must be given together , and not one after the other, so that their action does no t conflict with each ot her. Administration of two to three medicines, together or in sequence, demands a special skill based on deep knowledge and long experience a bout the nature of the medications to be used. I usually give Arnica and Lachesis together or just one of the two. If the heart attack has been precipitated due to co agulation of the blood, Arnica will adequately dilute the blood, and re-establish its flow. Arnica is the best remedy for accidents and blunt injuries , causing the injured part to turn blue or black due to the accumulation of clotted blood. Once, a patient had been badly beaten with a club and his entire body was black and blue. His condition was critically serious and I thought he would not survive. I gave him sufficient supply of Arnica and prayed for him. By the next evening, I was very worried because I had received no information about his condition. On inquiry, I was told that he had become well enough that night and he was even up and about by then. Alhamdolillah. Arnica 200 given along with Aconite 200 is much better and faster in action than Arnica 200 alone. If the injured area is flushed and swollen due to increased local circ ulation, Belladonna should also be given along with Arnica for better re sponse. Increased blood flow to the injured part is a natural response to the physical insult. In Arnica alone, local blood flow is not e nhanced and there is no unusual swelling. In the case of increas ed swelling, Belladonna or Aconite should also be administered. This general prescription may be used without any hesitation or fear of ha rm. It can simply work to one’s advantage. Arnica works equally well in low as well as high potencies. However, in deep-established illnesses, it should be administered in high potency. Once an army officer, Major Mumtaz, slipped off the snow- covered cliff during military exerci ses and landed in an abyss 75 feet deep in the Himalayas. He was se riously hurt with no apparent hope of survival. I gave him Arnica 1000 and Natrum Sulph 1000 twice on the first day and then once a day. By God’s grace, he recovered astonishingly well. One of my patients had been badl y hurt and his backbone had also fractured. The doctors told him that he would not survive, if he luckily survived, he would be bed-ridden or bound to a wheelchair for life. I prescribed him Arnica, Ruta, Hypericum, Calcarea Phos and Symphytum, all in potency 30 to be taken 3 to 4 times a day. After some time, he showed up in my office in London walking on his own, without any support. I failed to recognize him, although I remembered his face. It was unbelievable to see him walking independently. He smiled and told me that he had used the homoeopathic prescription suggested by me and that I had prayed for him, and given him hope. His r ecovery was indeed miraculous. Hence, this prescription is the best remedy in all injuries causing swelling, inflammation, pain and stiffne ss. In the first patient, I had also included Natrum Sulph 1000, whic h in my opinion is the best for injuries of the nape of the neck. Over many years of practice, I have found a triad of homoeopathic medicine s that are very effective in the treatment of broken bones. This consists of Symphytum, Ruta and Calcarea Phos. It virtually doubles the speed of healing of a broken bone, even when there is a gap due to the loss of bone. The bone starts growing from both ends of the fracture to fill up the gap. Apart from physical trauma, Arnica is also very useful for fatigue and discomfort following physical exertion . If the aching is severe, Arnica and Bryonia together will offe r sure relief. Arnica is very useful in various women’s diseases. At the time of childbirth, unusual straining can tear apart the pelvic muscles and tissues , resulting in chronic pain. Arni ca 1000 given a few days before childbirth will prevent against such happening. The puerperal sepsis and fever are very amenable to Sulphur and Pyrogenium. Prophylactic use of Arnica 1000 will mo st probably preclude their use or Arnica can be given also with Sulphur and Bryonia. As a matter of principle, the more medicines are mixed, the less their individual beneficial affect would be. The medicines similar in action but not analogous to the illness w ill lose, rather than gain any beneficial effect. I pe rsonally resort to mixed prescription due to the shortage of time at my disposal. I have used them over the years and found them uniformly effective in all the patients. The rigid types of homoeopaths still stick to the practice of using only one remedy for a particular illness, I do not agree with them. I would rather advise the use of well-tried and tested combination prescriptions rather than letting the patient remain untreated and suffer. One, if not more, of the combinations may happen to be a truly analogous remedy. The Arnica patient does not usually fear during the day but has nightmares during sleep. The pregna nt women feel lower abdominal pain due to the foetal movements, which intensify as the pregnancy progresses. At night, the pain being suppressed by sleep expresses itself in the form of scary dreams. In the case of chronic, deep-seated illnesses, the Arnica patient may also develop a fear of death . In Opium, the person experiences such fear irrespective of the severity of the illness or timing of the day and night. In Arnica, however, he does not fear much in the absence of severe illness. The bleeding is dark and smelly. The Arnica patient exhibits the early symptoms of malaria and typhoid i.e. the body aches. The skin feels raw and uncomfortable and the skin is very sensitive, even to touch. So are the joint pains of Arnica. Arnica given in high potency cures the sprain and the strain of the ankle effectively. In spite of being given repeatedly, low potency will not be very effective. Even soft bedding feels unbearably hard to Arnica patients. They change side fre quently to get relief, but in vain. In Arsenic and Rhus Tox, tossing about in bed is secondary to restlessness. Arnica resembles other homoeopathic medicines also. Like Belladonna, the head is warm but the body is cold. The fever suppressed inside the body can be dangerous. One dose of Arnica high potency will induce gradual warming up of the body and the suppressed symptoms of the disease will start manife sting externally and thus give time for the appropriate treatment. In case the diagnosis is already made, the appropriate analogous remedy can be administered without the intermediary use of Arnica. Once, a lady suffered from severe sprain of the ankle and was unable to walk. She took homoeopathic remedies but at the same time continued massageing the injured an kle. I gave her Arnica, Bryonia and Causticum and strictly forbad e her from doing massage, because the massage caused recurrent injury to the tissues. She got better in a week. The other remedies were combined with Arnica because sometimes it is not a superficial injury, rather some muscle has also become weak. Bryonia is effective for the deep muscular injuries and is also a muscle tonic. In Causticum, the muscles are flabby and may predispose to hernia. If the symptoms are on the right side , a combination of Arnica, Belladonna and Bryonia will do the job, while the symptoms on the left side respond better to a combin ation of Arnica, Ledum and Lachesis. Arnica is the best remedy when the joints get twisted and sprained badly during a fall or an accident. It will offer visible relief in a few hours. When the back gets sprained or strained as a result of jerky movements, it can settle down afte r a while. Sometimes, it becomes chronic. The previously damage d muscles and ligaments become weak and stiff or flabby further. Arnica is quite helpful in such a condition; although it does not have a direct effect on the muscles. Cimicifuga is more appropriate fo r deep-seated muscular conditions. If the backache becomes chronic, in itially Arnica should be combined with Bryonia. However, if the relief is only temporary, Arnica should be combined with Rhus Tox. Rhus Tox is very effective in deep- seated muscular ailments. Rhus T ox is very beneficial is cases of muscular paralysis. It strengthens and invigorates the muscles. It is useful in case of a dilated heart also. In chronic paralyses, it is given along with Sulphur. Calcarea Car b, being chronic of Sulphur and Rhus Tox, may also be indicated to prolong their useful effects. Arnica is very useful in herpes. The common kind of herpes is related to the nervous weakness or infection. The other kind is related to venereal diseases and is very resi stant to treatment. Herpes due to nervous weakness responds well to Arnica, which is more effective when combined with Arsenic and Ledum. The triad of Arsenica, Arsenic and Ledum offers cure in all kinds of poisonous insects/animal bites. In Arnica, the inner lining of the gut is as irritable as the skin is in malaria and typhoid. There is a tendency to bleed from the ruptured small vessels . If there is bleeding in the vomiting, stools or sputum and th e appropriate analogous remedy cannot be thought of, Arnica may well be tried. If the disease has advanced, the mucous membranes of the intestines may disintegrate, leading to offensive smelling, blood mixed stools . The specific analogous remedy has to be sought af ter in such a case, since Arnica alone will not be of much use. The patient of Arnica sometimes presents with the offensive breath and sweat, smelling like that of Baptisia. When the disease becomes severe, the Arnica patient, like that of Arsenic, becomes fearful of death. His head feels warm. He wants his body to be warmed up but not his head. The Arsenic patient likes the head to be cooled and the body warmed. Being constantly cold, the Arsenic patient resembles that of Psorinum, though in Psorinum, the patient is cold from head to toe. Lachesis is very useful, especially if the feet are cold after going to sleep. The feet are cold on and off and not all the time. The excreta or the discharges are not offensive smelling, unlike Psorinum. The Psori num patient smells terrible, and feels intense cold. Sometimes the skin is covered with ugly-looking, thin scales like Arsenic. If the scales and scabs smell awful, Arsenic and Psorinum should be given together. If the fever prolongs, the Arnica pa tient may involuntarily pass urine, as well as stools, in their sleep. The urine is deep coloured and contains blood . The bladder feels full and tense, the kidneys ache. There is tendency of chills, naus ea and vomiting. The stools are dark and reddish in colour and frequent. The f requency of stools is associated with severe griping pain in the intestines. The patient feels progressively weak after every motion and likes to retire. Arnica is a good remedy for whooping cough also. The child screams before or after the bout of cough. Excessive straining can rupture the small capillaries and cause them to bleed. If Arnica is not given, the patient may go blind due to bleeding in the eyes. The whole body feels badly beaten up due to increased internal pressure. Arnica is not a cure, but offers suffi cient relief of symptoms so that the serious after-effects of whooping cough can be minimized. Drosera is very effective in whooping cough and similar coughs. One dose of potency 30 taken at night, works extraordinarily well. The Arnica patient is irritable, sad and distressed only during the ailment, even though he is not of this nature. When the symptoms progress, the pain is ameliorated and the drowsiness prevails. The mind, however, remains clear. On questioning the patient will respond clearly. In the heart diseases associated with Arnica, the heart feels as if squeezed into a vice. Th e patient’s heart beats out of fear. The pulse is irregular. The heartb eat becomes fast in response to physical exertion and exercise, and slows down with rest. The patient wants to move to a new place, hoping that he may feel better. Arnica combined with Bryonia and Iris Tenax is very useful in Appendicitis. Arnica 1000 given prior to a surger y or childbirth prevents many complications. Adjuvants: Aconite, Ipecac Antidote: Camphor Potency: 30 to CM.